1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved data processing system and, more particularly, towards an improved help system for applications and documents. Still more particularly, the present invention is directed towards an improved use of help information present in compound documents.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the growth of markup languages, such as the extensible markup language (XML), increasing usage of compound documents has been observed. A compound document is a document associated with a processing application, but wherein the compound document itself includes code to execute some functionality. For example, a particular document for a word processor may contain code or functionality to perform mathematical functions based on input placed into the compound document through the processing application. In another example, the compound document may include code to change what fields are displayed in a compound document while the compound document is being used or processed through the processing application. In still another example, a compound document may include one or more macros that can be executed while the compound document is open in the processing application.
A compound document can also be a document that collects several documents into one document. This type of compound document is frequently seen in XML documents, which use namespace to separate content for different purposes. For example, an XML document may contain data in one namespace that constitutes a business form, data in a second namespace that constitutes an instruction sheet for the form, and data in a third namespace that provides back-end processing information for the data in the form.
Thus, compound documents can be displayed or processed by a processing application similar to the way that a web browser displays hypertext markup language documents. These compound documents still use a viewing or processing application, but compound documents contain added functionality.
In a specific example, an extensible forms description language (XFDL) form can be displayed using the workplace forms viewer provided by International Business Machines Corporation of Armonk, N.Y. However, the XFDL form itself contains complicated functionality. The form itself can contain mathematical operations similar to a spreadsheet, and can react to user input by making sections of the form appear and disappear or by changing the workflow that the user follows when completing the form.
A problem that can arise with respect to compound documents is that the complexity of the compound document itself might lead to the creator of the compound document creating a help module for the compound document. A help module is a collection of help information that is defined within a document, and that applies specifically to that document.
Unfortunately, such help modules are not integrated with existing application help. Application help is the help system that comes with the processing application. Thus, two separate help systems exist and possibly can be active while a user is working with a compound document in a processing application. Because two separate help systems exist, a user can become confused as to whether or not the user is referring to a help module or to the application help. Additionally, a user may mistakenly attempt to access application help when the help module would be more appropriate, or conversely may mistakenly attempt to use the help module when the application help would be more appropriate.